Annotated Bibliography

Compares types of ability grouping (mixed, homogenous, acceleration/retention) used in educational systems in the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and Quebec and how they reflect cultural patterns and shape educational outcomes. Discusses tensions between the competing demands of excellence and equity.

Discusses methods of providing for exceptionally bright (IQ of 160 and above) children in the British schools. Two methods, enrichment and acceleration, work well especially if the enrichment material challenges the child to develop independent thought and action. Acceleration is ideally made to a group 2 or 3 yrs older. Employment of a mentor can make a valuable contribution to a gifted child's progress. A case history is presented of a gifted child from the age of 3 yrs to 10.5 yrs. The program involved a mother-toddler group, early evaluation by a psychologist of an IQ of 160, acceleration into a 5-yr-old class at the age of 4 yrs, and attending a secondary school at the age of 9 yrs for science and French. At age 10.5 yrs, the child was well adjusted socially.

This reprint of an article on Israel's proposed residential high school for students gifted in the arts and sciences is preceded by a commentary that highlights the use of alternative methods of assessment for identifying talented students in the arts and the development of a coherent sequence of art skills.

This paper summarizes the proceedings of a 1991 meeting of the Council for Cultural Cooperation's Educational Research Workshop on gifted children and adolescents. Introductory material briefly summarizes the nature of the meeting, aims of the workshop, and opening addresses (by the Rector of the University of Nijmegen (The Netherlands), the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Chairman of the Workshop, and a representative of the Council of Europe). Then, the seven commissioned papers are listed, as are reports from: Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Malta, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia. Ten recommendations of the meeting are given. These are addressed: the importance of individual differences, the special problems of gifted females, provisions within the regular school system, instructional development, teacher training, acceleration, special classes, research needs, and parents' associations. Appendices list the participants and present the reports of the three discussion groups.

Points out that because the term "gifted" is so comprehensive, it cannot be equated with "highly intelligent." An understanding adult who does not necessarily have to be gifted must handle the gifted pupil as a whole, but who must have certain special characteristics. Many procedures for handling gifted pupils are discussed, e.g., acceleration, attending extracurricular activities, and individualized education.

This paper examines possibilities in allowing accelerated progression of talented students in the New South Wales (Australia) education system. The concept of acceleration is supported by a review of the research evidence showing that accelerated students have usually been more successful than nonaccelerated peers.

No abstract available.

The European approach to education for the gifted is less structured than the American approach. Superficially, differentiated education for the gifted barely exists in Europe; however, there are teaching procedures and programs to help pupils. These include individual acceleration, specialist advisory teachers, national competitions and activity centers, and special schools for instruction in the arts.

Self-reports are particularly suitable for research with the gifted, who are often self-aware and articulate. By this means, features which could otherwise be missed by standardized tests and observations can add greatly both to the richness of the data and to their validity. However, because of the great variety, and the unexpectedness and complexity of responses, there are problems of collection and analysis, such as distortion by reporter or researcher. Verbal protocol analysis is suggested as one solution. A 14-yr study in Britain using self-reports, along with a battery of standardized tests, compared 70 gifted (aged 5-14 yrs) and 140 nongifted controls. This supplied information, unobtainable by other means, on, for instance, the subjective aspects of academic acceleration, teacher-pupil relationships, the effects of labeling, and intellectual strategies of the gifted. These insights are valuable for care of the gifted and for policy making.

No abstract available.

Examines the state of gifted education in England. Data were obtained from a National Association for Gifted Children survey of 63 local education authorities. Forty two subjects said they made special provision for the gifted. Enrichment was the most popular means of provision, cited by 37 subjects. Sixteen encouraged the use of a support teacher in classes and enrichment. Eighteen encouraged acceleration and early transfer. Provisions and teacher training remain limited, however.

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A case study of a profoundly gifted 11-year old in Australia recounts his early reading, his interest in mathematics, and his failure at early schooling because of inadequate school readiness. His parents are now considering when he should begin college. Comments of three gifted educators are included.

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This paper reviews the school histories of five extremely gifted Australian children (IQs 160-200) who had been radically accelerated. A combination of grade skipping and radical subject matter acceleration gave the children access to curricula commensurate with their abilities as well as healthier levels of social self-esteem.

This paper examines the impact of multiple grade skipping on social adjustment and self-esteem of extremely gifted students. A survey of the literature and research in Australia and the United States on well-planned and carefully monitored radical acceleration finds no evidence that students suffered social or emotional problems; to the contrary, maladjustment was more often found among highly gifted students who were not accelerated.

Although the academic acceleration of gifted and talented students is probably the most comprehensively studied and evaluated of all educational interventions, many teachers are reluctant to accelerate gifted students for fear they will suffer social or emotional damage. Yet research suggests that "the bird that's tethered to the ground" is at much greater risk of social isolation and emotional maladjustment through inappropriate grade placement with age-peers. This session looks at how gifted students differ from their age-peers in many aspects of their social and emotional development and explains why well-planned programs of acceleration enhance these students' self esteem, their love of learning, their acceptance of themselves and their gifts, and their capacity to form warm and supportive friendships. For many gifted students, acceleration replaces discord with harmony.

This is the first book on acceleration (mainly grade skipping) in Germany. The research consists of three parts:

• A census of all the primary schools, grammar schools and comprehensive schools in Lower Saxony. They were asked how many children had skipped a grade between 1980 and 1990, and if the schools had noticed social-emotional and / or intellectual problems.
• Questionnaires for parents whose children had skipped a grade (42 girls, 61 boys, plus 9 girls and 11 boys who had not skipped), all from the former West German states.
• Interviews with children (19 grade skippers, 6 non-grade skippers taken from the parents’ sample) who had skipped a grade in primary school and who were 13 and older at the time of the interviews. Parents and teachers often saw the lack of challenge in primary school but worried about what might happen in adolescence with the older class mates.

East German states were not included because, at the time of the study, Germany had not yet been re-unified. Brief results in English are presented in the articles mentioned here. In 2001 the census in Lower Saxony was repeated for 1990-2001.

This article defends acceleration as one option for gifted students, describes use of acceleration in Germany including early school entrance, individual grade skipping, acceleration in one subject, and acceleration in special classes.

This article investigates the use of acceleration, particularly whole-grade acceleration, as a curricular option for gifted German students. German schools historically have been reluctant to use acceleration, even though grade skipping was allowed twice in all West German states, once in primary school and once in secondary school. Heinbokel discusses the persistence of myths about acceleration and the widespread resistance to it. For example, research conducted by Heinbokel about acceleration practices in the 1980s showed that more than 99% of Lower Saxony schools had no experience with grade skipping, meaning that the schools have no more than two students skipping grades in ten years. However, the author notes, attitudes toward acceleration are changing, and conservative government parties and some teacher associations are becoming more in favor of the practice. As evidence of the changing attitudes, more regions of Germany are willing to allow early entrance to school and grade skipping. Until 1995, students were not forbidden to skip Grade 10. Since 1995, more than 120 students have skipped Grade 10. In Lower Saxony, schools are requested to discuss the possibility of grade skipping for all students who have an average of 2 or better (in the German system, 1 is the best grade, 6 is the worst). It is becoming more acceptable to champion the cause of gifted education in Germany through early entrance, grade skipping, and special classes.

Reviews research on grade skipping in German primary and grammar schools, including data gathered from interviews with parents of grade skippers and pupils who had decided against grade skipping and from interviews with students who had skipped grades. Although public and professional opinion on grade skipping is quite negative, there are no German studies that support this view. Schools, parents, and grade skippers themselves reported few academic problems; if there were emotional and social problems, it was not clear whether they were actually caused by this form of acceleration, by individual private problems, or by an unsympathetic environment. This is an area that calls for more research. Attempts to increase the number of grade skippers in grammar schools were not successful.

In 1996, the laws concerning grade skipping in Lower Saxony were changed. Since then teachers must consider grade skipping if a pupil has a B average or better. There had also been positive changes in the attitude towards gifted children in general and grade skipping. A follow-up of the research of 1989/90 (see above Heinbokel 1996) was carried out to understand the influence of the change in the law and attitudes on grade skipping. As a result, Lower Saxony is the only German state (now including the east) which has figures for 20 years.

Grade skipping increased from 311 (1980s) to 1907 (1990s) cases. In primary school there were still more boys, but in secondary school there were significantly more girls. The schools noted more pupils with problems after grade skipping up to a point where they had to repeat a year (this had not happened in the 90s). One possible reason: there had been no teacher training how to recognize suitable candidates and how to handle grade skipping. There were also more children who had skipped more than one year.

No abstract available.

Man kann "Das Vorwort" hier lesen (auf Deutsch). The full book is available only in German. You can contact the author (in English or German) at annette.heinbokel@osnanet.de.

This international handbook provides a synthesis and critical review of the significant theory and research dealing with all aspects of giftedness. Each article is designed to reflect the state-of-the art from an international perspective, to offer a comprehensive review, and to comprise the forefront of knowledge and thought about the gifted. The 53 chapters are divided into seven parts with the following titles, and prominent themes within each part are indicated in parentheses: (1) "Historical Perspectives and Perennial Issues Related to Giftedness and Talent" (history of giftedness and national/state policies); (2) "Conceptions and Development of Giftedness and Talent" (structural tendencies, models, developmental theories, genetic influence, brain research, thinking processes, longitudinal studies, and prodigies and savants); (3) "Identification of Giftedness and Talent" (alternative "metaphors of mind," methodological problems, visual arts and music, young children, and prediction); (4) "Programs and Practices of Nurturing the Gifted and Talented" (differentiated education, curriculum development, acceleration, enrichment, verbal talents, mathematics, science and technology, leadership, socioemotional development, moral development, creativity, administrative issues, ability grouping, special programs, and evaluation programs); (5) "Other Components of Nurturing Giftedness and Talent" (teachers of the gifted, counseling needs, underachieving gifted, families, disadvantaged and culturally different, gender differences, gifted disabled, mentoring, and community resources); (6) "Examples of Country Efforts, Policies, Programs and Issues" (United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, People's Republic of China, Australia and New Zealand, Africa, and Central and South America); and (7) "Present and Future of Education of the Gifted and Talented" (research and education). Each paper contains references.

Updated edition of the International Handbook for Gifted Education; originally published in 1993.

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Various approaches to educating the gifted and talented around the world are illustrated through descriptive reviews of gifted education in selected countries, including: Australia, Poland, England, Scotland, and Wales; and Israel. Following these reviews is an examination of several issues in gifted education around the world. This examination encompasses: the domination of intellectual giftedness within the concept of giftedness; identification procedures which involve assessment of intellectual or academic aptitude; the use of special classes or integrated classes; acceleration versus enrichment; curricular and instructional differentiation; teacher education; out-of-school provisions for gifted education; affective development of the gifted; the gifted disadvantaged; and research and evaluation in gifted education. The paper concludes with the observations that gifted education has a cyclical history in many countries and seems to be an esoteric endeavor rather than part of the educational mainstream.

Investigated the frequency, circumstances, and effects of grade skipping in gifted secondary school (n=63) and comprehensive school (n=8) students in Germany. A survey was administered to collect information including how often grade skipping took place in the individual grades; the principal's assessment of measures regarding the requirements; the consequences and appropriateness of grade skipping; and skipped students' characteristics and development of school performance within the first year after their advanced placement. Results indicate that grade skipping in academic secondary and comprehensive schools over the four academic years of the study was a rare occurrence. According to the results of the survey, many instructors are very skeptical about grade skipping, and promote other educational targets rather than high achievement. A wide variety of requirements is expected from the student who is to be accelerated including outstanding ability, willingness to work, high social, emotional, and physical development. The students who had skipped a grade in the previous year, could, as a rule, cope relatively well with work in the higher grade. The necessary support on the part of the school, however, remained limited.

No abstract available.

Describes two early college admission programs for gifted students in the People's Republic of China. The programs are located at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei and at the South East University in Nanjing. The programs have provided an option in which the students find academic challenge that is a good match for their readiness, with positive results and without apparent undue negative fallout.

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This article documents the growing worldwide concern for identifying and serving gifted students, primarily via curriculum and instructional differentiation through special classes, enrichment, and acceleration. Programs in Brazil, Canada, Australia, the Middle East, Israel, the Philippines, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Poland, Indonesia, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom are noted.

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In the U.S. and England, tests are the main tool for identifying gifted children, but in the USSR grades and teacher evaluations are used. Acceleration and enrichment in the schools are provided for gifted children in the U.S., segregation in to certain schools is used in England. Extracurricular activities provide enrichment in the USSR, where segregation is provided only for people with artistic talent, and acceleration is forbidden.

No abstract available.

This paper, commissioned for the development of the national report, "National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent," analyzes the policies and practices for educating high-ability students in Japan, Taiwan, and China. It reports on studies over the past 11 years of East Asian children's academic achievement. In the first section, the report looks at governmental policies and practices concerning the education of three types of students: (1) those who display high levels of intelligence, (2) those who are talented in the arts, and (3) those who are high academic achievers. Special programs both in and out of school are described. In the second part, the report describes the characteristics of students who have participated in the authors' studies and compares their performance and personal characteristics with those of American peers. Discussion focuses on students who demonstrate high levels of cognitive ability and on students who display exceptional ability in mathematics. The paper notes that programs for gifted and talented children in East Asia are new; the majority, especially in China and Taiwan, established only during the last decade. Japan supports no programs specifically for gifted students prior to the high school level. There is a greater emphasis in East Asian cultures on effort, rather than ability.

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Assessed the attitudes toward acceleration for gifted children in a group of 152 primary school teachers and a group of 140 teacher trainees. Subjects completed a 22- item scale encompassing beliefs about the effects of acceleration on academic adjustment, social and emotional development, and leadership skills. Subjects were moderately positive but conservative in their views about acceleration, and expressed greater concern about the social and emotional effects than about the academic effects. It is concluded that the apprehensions of the teachers and teacher trainees, although based on well-intentioned common sense beliefs, appear unfounded in terms of recent research.

No abstract available.

This article synthesizes three research projects conducted in New South Wales, Australia, exploring forms of acceleration for gifted students. The first involved early entry for gifted children, the second examined experiences of students who had skipped at least one grade, and the third examined a vertical programming system that allowed acceleration within subjects at an academically selective high school.

No abstract available.

As an emerging democratic nation, South Korea has struggled to provide equal opportunities to all of its people and is only now considering that some especially capable and accelerated students may not be served by emphasizing the same curriculum and instructional strategies for all students. Current options for gifted students include grade acceleration, science high schools, music and art high schools, and the support services provided by the Korean Association for Gifted Children.

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